The Court
by KiraLoveless
Summary: She was Haryn Fae Potter-Black, the Girl-Who-Lived, and the Woman-Who-Conquered. Key word: was. Now she's in a parallel world where Riddle has no nose and her male self was making friends with spiders in a cupboard beneath the stairs. What was a Mistress of Death to do? Get reincarnated and throw the timeline into disarray of course.
1. The End

**Hello, my friends. This little prologue is not really necessary, but I figured it'd benefit you guys somehow. I'll be updating monthly, earlier if I can manage. For now, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Tah Taahh~**

 **CHAPTER 1- Prologue**

She didn't truly remember what happened when she encountered her second (Third? Fourth?) experience with Death. All she remembered was falling… falling into a dark abyss where she couldn't escape. There was nothing but the shadows to keep her company. She was terrified of the prospect of being alone in this void. So she ran, she didn't know where, but she ran. She ran even though the dark seemed to stretch for miles upon miles and never end...

~ . ~

Small, delicate hands stretched out into the darkness, reaching for something that was not there.

 _'Don't leave me.'_

Desperate emerald eyes shined with unshed tears, searching through the dark void.

 _'Please.'_

Pale lips spread apart in a silent cry of despair.

 _'I don't want to be alone.'_

Blood red curls flowed behind her, vibrant compared to the inky blackness.

 _'I don't want to be alone anymore.'_

The young girl fell to her knees, tears feeling trailing down her pale face.

 _'Help me, please.'_

Ashen hands shot from the darkness and snaked around her shaking body from behind, pulling her into a cold embrace.

"Hush. I am here. You are no longer alone." A sweet, melodic voice crooned chillingly into her ear. "I will never leave you."

The girl's lips stretched into a relieved smile before her fragile body slumped, scarlet hair falling over her like waves. Amber eyes glowed from the cloak of shadows and observed the unconscious child before pulling away, ashen hands sinking into the darkness. The orbs blinked at the cooling body of the human child before speaking sharply.

"Wake up, Mistress."

As if a spell had been broken, an ethereal voice of a deeper yet feminine tone groaned out. Silvery mist began to slowly pour out of the child's limp body in periodic waves, pooling onto the ground before conforming into a faint silhouette. The cloud of white pulsed once, twice, then dramatically fell away to reveal a young woman standing over the body of the red headed girl.

The being wore a flowing deep purple dress that fell to her knees, decorated with silver wrought armor that bore the resemblance of dragons taking flight upon her shoulders. Her slender wrists were wrapped in reinforced gauntlets that took the image of metallic scales. Her vivid blood red curls were neatly clasped back with a silver circlet, a tear-drop red gem falling against her forehead. The woman turned and her fiery green irises clashed with molten amber.

There was a beat of silence.

Then the ashen pale hand reached out once more from the shadows and made a movement as if to pull something away from the air. Seconds later, a woman of equal beauty was revealed, a cloak as black as the abyss nestled in the crook of her arm. She too wore a purple dress, though it closely resembled black. A purple overcoat in a lighter shade completed the ensemble, sleeveless and flowing. Her pearly white hair was plaited into intricate waves with an ornamental clip, matching well with her silver circlet which showed off the upright triangle with a bisected circle within it engraved onto her forehead.

None batted an eye when the human child's body sunk into the unseen depths.

The being of shadows cocked her head to the side, "Was your second life not to your liking, Mistress?"

With a sigh, the redheaded women spoke in a soft tenor, "It's not the same."

The other's lips curled into a smirk and she drawled, "No two lives are the same, Mistress."

The redhead huffed, "You know what I meant, Death."

"I suppose your previous life as the Woman-Who-Conquered was too… influential. Might I suggest a gender change and a suppression of memories for your next trip to the Land of the Living?" The albino's lips widened into a gleeful smirk. There was only groan in response.

"If the Mistress wishes it, I can cater to your inclination of serving as the Martyr of Humans." Death continued when her mistress didn't answer, "Or I can send you to the other realms. The Champion of Death hasn't been around there lately, perhaps you can stage something to keep the Others from realizing my lack of one."

The woman rolled her eyes, "You forget that I am your so-called Champion, however unwilling. Life had appointed me that position."

Death only sniffed, "I suppose you wouldn't be satisfied with the options given to you. As such, I propose a deal."

The woman slowly raised an eyebrow, "A deal?"

"I cannot send you back to your original world, you have no place there anymore. I can, however, send you to one not unlike your own. Haryn Potter-Black does not exist in that timeline, but your male counterpart does. Harry Potter."

"And I will take over his body?" Haryn asked, anticipation rising within her.

"No, Life has already tied a soul to the body. I cannot interfere. However, I am able to tie you into a body that has not yet been bonded with a soul, it just won't be as perfect of a fitting as your counterpart's body." Death answered.

"That is fine." Haryn breathed out, "Have you found a suitable host for me?"

"Indeed I have." Death's amber eyes glittered ominously, "The mother of your host is a devout follower. Her Gift is strongly tied to the Beyond, so you will not be questioned about the skills you possess, but you will need to retrain your abilities to match your body's development. Your sire has passed approximately three years ago."

"And how old will the body be?" She questioned, not surprised by her magical restrictions. Necromancy was a skill she had picked up after years of acting as Death's Mistress. Her new body would have to adjust to it along with her large reserves in magic.

A smirk graced Death's pale lips, "You misinterpret me, Mistress. The body is still in the womb, but not for long."

"Not for long…" Haryn's eyebrows slowly climbed as dread settled in her eyes, "Death, you can't possibly mean I have to-"

"It seems to be time..." Death smirked evilly.

"Oh no. Oh no no no!"

"It seems your new body is calling, Mistress."

"Death, don't you dare-!"

"Enjoy."

With a snap of Death's finger, Haryn unceremoniously dropped into the void with an indignant yelp. Death only watched her mistress' descent with a growing smirk.

~.~.~

In a towering manor hidden deep within a forest, a high pitch wail broke out from within its dreary walls.

"WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"

"It's a girl!"

 **Please leave a review on your way out! Thank you~**


	2. The Start

CHAPTER 2

Verona Nightshade was not a woman to be trifled with. She could raise armies with a flick of hand and decimate them all with a swish of a wand. Everyone knew to not cross the master Necromancer and not many even thought to do so.

Verona was -excuse the pun- drop dead gorgeous. She held her head high and walked in a graceful, empowered gait. Her silky midnight locks flowed behind her in waves at every move she took, framing her icy cyan eyes that drew in all who chanced a look upon her. Such cold eyes were softened by her beautifully warm smile that showed off her pearly whites.

It was no wonder that many had sought to court her.

It was also no wonder that only the best was able to succeed in winning her over. With her standing beside the esteemed Head of Magical Law Enforcement, no one contested to her power.

Yet despite her daunting reputation, the Americas knew that Verona was anything but an evil Dark Lady. She was a kind soul, loved by all who met her despite the affinity her magic took up. She had the power to dominate the country, but chose to use her power to help their economy instead. Coupled with her loving nature, it was not hard to ignore the fact that she was tied to necromancy in favor befriending her.

However, even Verona was not infallible. A Dragonpox epidemic that had broken out in Europe had carried over and she was not spared from its horrors. Verona could only be thankful that she was magically powerful enough to combat any permanent effects, but her husband was not so lucky. Sleep deprived because of all the paperwork with little to no sustenance taken in regularly while recovering from a recent battle, he was nowhere near healthy enough to fight back against the disease. Not soon after, the Head had passed on and Verona fell into depression.

Sadly, Time had to continue on and a new Head came into power. The proof that her husband was no longer of the Living only caused her more pain and she retreated further into her shell. Rarely was she seen in public and when she was, it was only to attend her daily check ups. Friends and family came to offer their counsel, but she would not listen. She was too deep within the depths of despair.

It was not long before the new Head began falsely accusing her of treachery, somehow managing to convince the President of the Magical Congress she was guilty. Verona expected it. She was a threat to his position, thus she needed to be removed. Fortunately, the people knew her enough to know what was true and what was not. It still didn't help with the advances of the radicals, though. Many a time, Verona found herself defending herself from the more loyal followers of the President.

By the time a year had passed, Verona had made a decision. Staying in America was not helping her. Everywhere she went reminded her of her lost love. As a result, she made plans to move away. Far away.

Ignoring all protests, Verona had shipped everything she owned into a manor far out in Great Britain and promptly portkeyed away. The wizarding world of America would soon learn that she would never return. The second woman known to be chosen by all Four Houses of Ilvermorny was lost to them.

Unlike the peaceful times of America, her new home was in the midst of war. Everywhere she looked was wrought with death and strife. It was the perfect place to accommodate her mood and the many deaths only added to the numbers she could summon if Death Eaters tried to invade her manor. By the end of the second year after her husband's death, Dark and Light wizards alike would learn to never come near her territory lest they meet a terrible death. She would not side with anyone during the war and instead isolated herself in her home with only house elves for company.

Near the end of the second year of isolation, Verona did something she never thought she would do. She believed that there was only one way to recover. Only one way to pull her out of her despair and isolation.

She wanted a child. A child of her blood and the blood of her deceased husband. She refused to bed any other man to gain the child she wished for. Verona wanted the manifestation of the love she shared with Him. However, her vast library held no answers, so she looked towards the sky and prayed to her patron for a solution. The goddess that watched over her and her magic. The Lady Death.

Her Lady did not answer her, but that did not deter her. Verona continued to pray everyday in hopes that she would be heard. Not once did she lose hope, not once did she lose faith in her Lady. Verona prayed and prayed and prayed until one day, her hopes were finally answered.

On the night of Walpurgis, the entity of Death entered in a shroud of black wisps, never taking a solid form, always shifting and changing. When She spoke, it was in a cacophony of voices that spoke in unison, unable to be discerned separately.

Verona had knelt down in awe and bowed her head low to the ground in respect, twin blazing bonfires flaring on her far sides in honor of the Night of Walpurgis. The entity towering above her spoke, " **On the day of Samhain, when magic is at its peak, invoke the rites and I shall bear witness to the love between you and yours. Should I find that love true, your wish shall be granted. Come that time, your gift shall blossom in Beltane's hold."**

Elation bubbled inside Verona, waiting to burst into screams of joy. Verona thanked her Lady profusely, never raising her head to meet the form of Death. Death did not answer her gratitude and promptly left as fast as She had come, taking the fires along with Her, leaving only sparks of embers behind. Verona didn't blink at the swift change in temperature and only pulled out her bottles of mead, readying for the end of Walpurgis Night and the beginning of Beltane.

When the sun rose from the horizons, Verona relit the bonfires into a fiery blaze and sprinkled the mead into the flames before pouring generous amounts of it into large dishes between the twin bonfires. Her house elves didn't miss a beat and set up food around the fires as offerings for this day. With a burst of elven magic, May flowers bloomed on every inch of her manor and Verona let herself go. For the first time since His death, Verona celebrated Beltane in earnest, aware that exactly a year from now, her child would hopefully be born.

As each month passed, Verona grew more energetic. Had she any close friends that came to visit, they would've noticed how Verona was practically bouncing off the walls, in her own graceful and very much calm way.

When the day finally came, Verona's body shook in anticipation, for there was one thing she knew for certain; Magic opened the bridge between the land of the Living and the land of the Dead during Samhain. That only meant one thing: she was going to see her beloved one last time while she was alive.

Surely enough, under the night sky, she stood before the altar of Lady Death with a arm held out. A cut adorning her delicate palm wept blood and she drew her hand into a tight fist to enlarge the stream of blood used as the Offering to Magic. Her Lady watched her ministrations with nary a word as Verona set her puddle of blood aflame. Within seconds, the runes etched around her lit up like starlight, luminous yet faint as she began to chant.

She watched nervously as the smoke carrying the scent of her Life's essence billowed around her. Within seconds, it shot forward and wrapped her form in a suffocating blanket, eliciting a panicked yelp. Tears escaped from her eyes as Verona did her best to blink away the sting from the smoke. Her breathing came in short gasps as the smoke began to clog her lungs and Verona soon found herself on the floor gagging and coughing, desperate for air. Her heart burned and her body spasmed sporadically, but Verona only clenched her teeth between coughs as she bore the crippling onslaught of pain.

"You still have a chance to go back. Are you willing to carry on?" Her Lady's voice echoed around her, **"Tell me, is this child you wish for really worth all this pain?"**

Verona bit back a sob as her clouded vision starting blackening, but she did not yield. She would have their child, no matter the cost.

 **"Are you willing to sacrifice your life for this child-to-be?"**

Verona let out a strangled gasp when something akin to the feeling of a ram struck her in her gut. She curled into a ball and cradled her abdomen as she sobbed in terror.

 **"Well?"**

Despite every inch of her body screaming out in unimaginable amounts of pain, Verona forced her head to nod, no matter how imperceptible it was.

"Y-ye…s." She managed to croak out miserably.

 **"I see."**

Within a blink of an eye, all the pain and smoke retreated and Verona was left on the ground staring blankly in shock as she panted heavily. The smoke bundled into a cloud and began taking shape. First was an arm, then a leg, and limbs continued to protrude outwards until suddenly, Verona found herself being cradled in arms she'd never thought she'd feel again. She dared not look up in fear of it just being a delusion from her pain.

 _"My love?"_

And with just those two words, spoken in barely a whisper, all reservations were thrown out the window as Verona pulled her late husband in a searing kiss filled with happiness and desperation. The world was drowned out as she focused on Him and the loving embrace they shared.

Verona Lilith Nightshade was not ashamed of what she did that night. Many would be appalled and disgusted by her actions, but she didn't care. They would never know the circumstances of her child's birth, so their opinions would not matter. What mattered was that she was finally content for the first time in two years. She and her love had become one and the lost feeling of completion was satisfying.

When it was time for her love to leave, as Samhain was coming to an end, Verona was sad but not as heartbroken as she was before. Even if he had to return to the Land of the Dead, he still left a part of him behind and she was happy about that fact. She had completed the rites and her Lady had acknowledged the proof of their love. All she had to do now was eagerly await the coming of Beltane.

…

Although… eager was a relative term, Verona thought as she gritted her teeth in pain on the morning of Beltane. Had she known of the grief she would have to go through, she would've hesitated in copulating… Okay, that was a total lie, she was ecstatic to be pregnant, but the pains of labor was not helping with that outlook. Especially since her gestation period ended a month or two earlier than most pregnancies.

With one last pained scream, Verona pushed with all her might and-

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"

"It's a girl!" Her house elf, Holly, cried out in joy as she held up Verona's newborn child. With a wave of elven magic, Holly was quick to clean up the newborn and follow the traditional procedures before swaddling the babe in a silken blanket. Before she knew it, Verona was tiredly cradling her baby within her arms as Holly went about cleaning everything up.

Verona cooed lovingly at the adorable thing in her arms, "Hello my dear, sweet child."

Her baby sniffled cutely as she tried to stare at Verona with her undeveloped blue eyes. Verona smiled softly as she stroked the small tufts of red hair that her child undoubtedly gotten from her father. Even as a newborn, Verona could feel the magic swirling around her babe in waves. That too, she must have inherited from her father, for he was the definition of a magical powerhouse. The only thing her baby had gotten from her, other than the cyan eyes, was the affinity of her magic. The child would grow to be a powerful necromancer if she so chose to study the art.

Cooing gently when her little girl yawned, Verona placed a kiss upon her forehead and whispered lovingly, "Sleep, my beautiful Fae. Mama's here to watch over you from now on. I won't let anything ever happen to you."

Holding her baby closer to her, Verona gently sang.

 _Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby_

 _Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay_

 _And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow_

 _Bless you with love for the road that you go~_

 **Please review~ They feed my motivation huehuehue**


	3. The False Riddle

Hello lovely, lovely readers. A new chapter has been updated and I hope it doesn't disappoint! Please enjoy~

CHAPTER 3

"Come now, it was not wholly unpleasant."

Fae's face formed the baby equivalent to a scowl as she sniffed disdainfully to the side.

"It's not it's the first time you've had to experience it." Death sighed exasperatedly as She hovered over Fae's infantile body, Her silvery hair floating around Her even in the absence of wind. The pale being stared at her with unnervingly glowing amber eyes.

The redhead ignored Death in favor of focusing on her meaty legs as she firmly planted them behind her. Fae took a deep breath and maneuvered her hands to support her in the front, ignoring how ridiculous she looked with her backside sticking in the air. She grunted as her arms shook from the strain of the awkward position.

"Do not ignore me, Mistress."

Taking in one last deep breath, Fae pushed off from her hands with all the strength she could muster. The world spun for a second as her perspective gained new heights and she whooped in triumph when she successfully found herself standing upright for the first time since... _The Incident_.

"Mistress."

Fae yelped in shock when Death's ever present expressionless face suddenly appeared right in front of her own. All of her concentration vanished and she promptly lost her sense of balance. Flailing her arms in a desperate attempt to recover her balance, Fae let out a small squeal as her body arched backwards and she found herself staring at the ceiling, the air knocked out of her tiny human lungs.

Death blinked at Her mistress before chortling behind a hand, Her face having yet to change from its blank expression. Fae shot Her a glare as she wheezed pitifully, "I almost had it, Death!"

Fae grumbled angrily as she pushed herself back into a sitting position. Shooting one last glare in Death's direction, Fae stared pointedly at her creamy blue wall.

"I apologize." Death said once She recovered, raising Her corpse pale hands placatingly. Fae growled in response, "Sorry doesn't cut it. Do you know how hard it is to even stand?! It took me forever to even get to this point and you just had to ruin it! Don't even get me started on The Incident. I thought you had the decency to send me into a body that was already exposed to the world, but nooooo. I had to experience CHILDBIRTH. _AGAIN_!"

Death only shrugged shamelessly, further fueling Fae's urge to strangle the being with her tiny baby hands. Fae didn't know how she would manage to pull it off, but She. Would. Do. It. Someway, somehow… She would kill Death. Muahahahahahaha-

"Mistress, you're losing focus." Death informed nonchalantly. Fae immediately schooled her face into a neutral expression and shot Death an unimpressed look, "Well?"

Death blinked, "Well?"

Fae huffed impatiently, "Why are you here? Last I remembered, the atomic war just ended in another world and a surge of souls is currently swarming their gates. Shouldn't you be busy sorting out the destruction of yet another planet of another world?"

Death shrugged, "I wanted to check in and see if you've lost interest and tried to kill yourself like before. I went through great lengths to convince Life to allow my follower a child created by the copulation of the living and the dead."

Fae let out a long-suffering sigh, "I haven't done anything, yet. I plan a giving my other self a little visit today, though."

"Careful." Death said sternly, "Your body is still young and may collapse under the weight of your magic if you use too much."

Fae grumbled before allowing, "I'll only do a simple astral projection."

Death smiled before staring blankly at the ceiling, "... I'll have to go now."

"Have fun." Fae replied in a bored tone.

"And you as well, dear Mistress." She spoke softly in return and smiled down at the young witch before fading out of existence.

Fae stared at the position Death once stood at before sighing out wearily, "Now that I'm here, I sometimes wonder if it was a smart choice. Sooner or later, I'll run into familiar faces long gone from my time. Will I be able to handle it?"

Only silence answered her.

Sighing for the hundredth time today, Fae went back to attempting to stand up. The next couple of tries were nowhere near as successful as the one she'd almost manage while Death was here, but she kept on going. By the time the thirty minute mark passed, Fae victoriously found herself up and standing, aching and ready to go straight to sleep. She was short of breath and her body was covered in a thin layer of sweat from all the exertion she forced upon this body, but the euphoria distracted her from the thought of a bath.

"Fae?"

Said redhead yelped in shock and in a bout of déjavu, found herself once again staring at the ceiling with the air knocked out of her tiny human lungs. However, unlike last time, she was immediately pulled up into a warm, encompassing hug. She didn't resist and instead, snuggled into the embrace, "'ewwo Mama."

"Hello sweetie." Verona cooed, skillfully combing her fingers through her daughter's tangly hair, "Have you been practicing how to walk?"

Fae nodded into her neck. Verona giggled, "Aw sweetie, Mama's very proud of you, but you don't have to rush."

Fae professionally schooled her immediate scowl into an adorable pout, "But I'm awmost twee. Babies wearn to wak ah one, I'm vwery behind!"

Verona blinked in surprise, "And where did you learn this?"

"I saw fwom the pawenting boo' Mama buy." Fae answered in her best impression of a baby lisp. A grin stretched upon the woman's lips at her innocent expression, "My, it seems we have a Horned Serpent in our midst."

"Honed Sawpent?" Fae repeated in false confusion. Verona nodded, "A Horned Serpent. It is one of the Four Houses in Ilvermorny, the wizarding school of America. Though, I suppose you would be a Ravenclaw since you'll be going to Hogwarts instead. It means you'll grow to become a scholar, a user of the mind, little fairy."

Fae nodded and threw up a meaty palm to push away the hair that fell over her face from the action. Verona laughed and sat down with Fae on her lap before she deftly pulled her hair into a braid as if it wasn't a mass of tangled knots. Fae suspected magic, but she couldn't sense anything so she couldn't be sure.

With her hair out of the way, Fae could feel the cool air against her sweaty neck and back and although it felt nice, it was also disgusting. She made sure to let Verona know and the woman was quick to call upon the house elf. Setting Fae into Holly's arms, Verona patted her cheek before standing up, "Mama has some business to attend to, so I won't be back for awhile, but Mama promises she'll be back in time to celebrate Samhain with you. Behave for Holly, alright?"

Curious, but too tired to care, Fae simply nodded and made herself comfortable in Holly's spindly arms. Had she not known the house elf was capable, the baby would've feared breaking the little creature's arms with her weight. Fortunately, house elves were more resilient than they looked and Holly had no trouble supporting her. With a quick farewell and a peck on the cheek, Verona left to the fireplace.

Once she was sure Verona had gone through the floo and wasn't within the manor, Fae looked at Holly and spoke evenly, "If you would put me down...?"

"Yes Missus. Right away Missus!" Holly chirped before gently letting the redhead down, not deterred by her sudden change in character. Fae firmly planted her feet on the ground and straightened her back, eyes set in determination. With a deep breath, she lifted her leg and stepped forward.

….

….

Fae let out a relieved sigh when her butt didn't reacquaint itself with the floor. With confidence of her first success, she lifted her other leg and drew another step. Fae laughed victoriously as she found herself walking shakily down the hall, never completely losing her balance. Once she had reached the doorway to the bathroom, Fae turned her head to look at Holly who had happily followed after her every step, "Not a word to Mother, alright Holly? I want her to think it's my first steps when I walk in front of her."

"Yes Missus. Holly understands." The house elf nodded with an over excited smile, her bat like ears flopping on her head. With a sniff, Fae raised her arms and promptly stated, "I'm tired now and I'm going to fall in a few seconds."

Holly squeaked and dove at her, catching her form just before she met the ground. The small elf let out a sigh of relief before carrying her into the bathroom, all too used to her strange quirks. It wasn't long before Fae emerged smelling of cleanliness with a hint of vanilla.

Holly braided back her wet locks so it wouldn't turn into a massive tangled mess after her nap. With a nod of thanks, Fae settled into her nest of plush pillows and silken blankets. Verona had learned by the first year of her odd nesting habits, preferring to sleep in a pile of pillows on the lush carpet instead of using her bed. Fae blamed the instincts she inherited from her Naga ancestry when she conducted a blood ritual to be more attuned with her magic in her first life.

Burrowing deep into the sheets, Fae let out a sigh and waited for Holly to leave with a pop. Staring at the ceiling contently for a few minutes, she let her magic permeate the air. Her magic swirled almost playfully around the room before settling down around her body. Fae merely closed her eyes and concentrated on her task.

Responding to her will, her magic slowly pressed itself against her and continued on as if her body did not serve as a physical barrier. Like rocks and sand through a sieve, she felt her conscience separate from her physical form with the aid of her magic, meticulous and careful. Taking in an unnecessary breath, Fae opened her eyes to see her own face right in front of her. She jerked backwards, though it was more of a floating motion, to distance herself from her dormant body.

Sparing one last glance at her physical body buried beneath the blankets, Fae clenched her nearly transparent fist. Like a ghost, her form floated in a slightly minty sheen, not inconvenienced by physical aspects. She stretched out her arms and huffed.

It'd been far too long since the last time she used astral projection. Closing her eyes once again, Fae used her Sight and focused on the marker Death had helpfully put on her counterpart's magical core. The black world lit up in colorful auras as strings melded over and under others before spiralling out farther than the eye could see. Ignoring the colorful strings, Fae tapped into the flashing marker that went off in the distance. Within a blink of an eye, she suddenly found herself in another building altogether.

Fae blinked at the nursery she was currently in. Then she blinked again. And again. And one last time before she huffed indignantly once she realized what this meant. Harry Potter was just a baby, even younger than she was! Verona never bothered to keep anything around Fae that would allow her to learn about the date. Because of this, she had assumed that she would be the same age as Harry. But no, the boy looked like he just reached his first birthday.

Fae blinked.

Harry looked like he was a one year old. If this timeline was anywhere near hers, that meant a lot of things. Lily and James would still be alive. If they were alive… and today was Samhain… that meant that Vol-

Fae's quickly declining thoughts were effectively shut down when a loud explosion resounded through the house. Not even a second later, a woman with fiery red hair equivalent to her own came blazing into the nursery with a baby gently clutched in her arms. Fae watched as her mother quickly placed Harry into the crib next to her before proceeding to throw everything she could at the door as if to barricade it.

When Lily deemed her adequate barrier good enough, she was quick to run towards the desk and pull out a dagger, a ceremonial one if she saw it correctly. Fae watched in morbid curiosity as Lily cut deeply into her palm before smearing her blood across the wall. The woman stared at her babe with determined jade eyes as she steadily chanted out verses in Gaelic as if she wasn't previously panting heavily with laboured breaths.

Fae watched on as the powerful blood magic grew with the help of Samhain's volatile magic as blood was given as sacrifice. Runes suddenly flared up along the walls, coming to life as the woman's potent magic fed them. With tear tracks running down her face, the red haired woman lifted the dagger and carved a lightning shaped rune on her child's forehead, guilt swimming in her eyes as the babe cried out in pain.

Fae blinked interestedly at the rune. Sowilo. A safety and protection rune of the Norse variety if she recalled. Or did it mean luck and conquest? After her own scar had faded, Fae had deliberately avoided addressing it, the scar bringing too many unwanted memories. Now that she realized Lily was the one to administer it and not Voldemort, Fae steadily grew interested.

Once again, her thoughts were put on halt by a particularly ear piercing bang. Just like that, the ancient magic of Samhain disappeared in a flash and in its place was a sickly aura of magic that made her nose wrinkle in disgust. The source of the aura stood proudly at the doorframe, a wand pointed threateningly at the woman who turned from fierce practitioner of the Blood Magicks into a snivelling mortal too weak to do anything but beg for mercy.

Fae frowned at the change, though the fact that Lily was begging for mercy for her child instead of herself slightly cushioned her ire. It wasn't long before a green light lit up the room and the woman lay on the floor, motionless. Fae frowned heavily as the snake faced _thing_ with the sickly green aura walked towards Harry and as a result, her.

Who in Merlin's name was that creature? Where was Voldemort? This monstrosity looked nothing like the powerful man Fae risked her life to defeat. Tom Riddle was a grudgingly handsome man that pulled everyone in with his soul piercing eyes, not this noseless snake faced mutant of a human. And yet, Fae would never mistake his magic. It was truly Voldemort.

Fae's hackles immediately started raising when the tip of Voldemort's wand started glowing an ominous green. Her breath caught in anticipation as the spell shot out towards the baby, but just before it reached Harry, time seemed to slow and a sense of dread filled her. Row upon row of runes on the walls flared up once more and the entire room was bathed in white.

The sudden shock wave of magic threw Fae out of the building and at that moment as she was suspended in the air, Fae was glad she didn't have a physical body there. She shook her head and wasted no time in shooting back into the house, but it was too late. The sorry excuse of a man completely disappeared along with the ethereal magic and the runes. Lily was dead on the floor, sprawled out in a somehow dignified manner, and the baby was still alive.

With a defeated sigh, Fae floated over to the terrified child. Absentmindedly, she pulled in more magic to make her form corporeal (which wasn't entirely smart as her reserves are still that of a babe). However, it seemed that didn't help much since the baby screamed even louder due to her sudden appearance.

With a groan, Fae shuffled over before smacking her chubby little hand over his mouth. The shock of skin contact was able to shut the baby up for a bit and she sighed in relief as her ears were no longer ringing. Fae huffed when red-rimmed emerald eyes stared at her in curiosity and lowered her hand, "Hello other me."

"Aahho." Harry giggled before reaching out with a meaty hand to touch her hair. Fae easily smacked it away, ignoring the answering whine, "I'll assume you haven't learned to speak yet, what with your illiterate gibberish. Concerning, since I was already up and running at your age."

The was a sniff and a faint whimper and Fae immediately wrinkled her nose in distaste as the baby's eyes started watering once more, "Oh cease the oncoming racket, you're a wizard for Merlin's sake. Stop acting like a snivelling baby."

Another whimper was her answer before Fae realized the error of her words, "Err… right, you _are_ a baby. Ugh, this is so frustrating."

"Haaab. Aaahh." The baby made grabbing motions with his outstretched hands and when Fae ignored him, the wailing started up again. She let out a long suffering groan and shot the baby a glare, "You are lucky this isn't my actual body or there would be hell to pay."

With great reluctance, Fae moved closer and surrendered a lock of her red hair for him to grab. The effect was immediate and the baby quickly stopped screeching like a banshee in favor of grabbing hold of her hair. A gleeful gurgle was all she received in return for her kindness as the baby tugged on her hair playfully. Fae sniffed at him before glancing at the body right next to the crib, fiery red hair flaring out everywhere. She blinked before turning back to the baby, "How odd… I feel nothing when I look at my dead mother's body… How worrying…"

Emerald eyes blinked innocently at me, "Yaabaai?"

Fae gave him the stink eye before slapping her forehead, "Why am I even talking to a baby? This is outrageous."

There was a soft coo before small, meaty hands pried her own away from her face. Fae blinked in surprise when the baby gently patted her forehead, eyes shining in _concern_. Fae scowled and batted away his hand, "You are an abnormal baby. Then again, I was too."

The mortal had the gall to smile at her, toothless and gummy. Somewhere deeeep down, her heart cracked at the admittedly adorable sight. Mentally slapping herself for the thought, Fae gave the little baby a onceover, "Well… I personally think that 'Harry' doesn't fit you very well. 'Harriet' didn't suit me either. What should I call you instead?"

He gurgled and went back to playing with her hair. Fae inwardly cringed when she realized his hands were no longer clean and were in fact covered in drool. In a sudden bout of childishness, Fae licked her own hand and ran it through his own mass of tangly hair in retaliation. She felt a bit jealous when her hand ran through his raven hair relatively smoothly without getting caught in tangles. It was unfair, he had messy hair too and somehow _she_ was the only one stuck with all the tangles?!

Fae huffed irritatedly before pausing in thought. Raven hair… Raven. She hummed as she stared at the baby who continued to obliviously throw her hair around. After a moment, Fae nodded to herself, "I'm going to call you Raven, understand? In memory of this… hair incident..."

The newly named Raven babbled incoherently with a smile, drool dripping down his chin. Fae was going to give an insulting remark before she heard a particularly loud creak from the floor boards just outside the room. She wasted no time in retracting her magic that made her visible and slunk back to see who came. With her abrupt disappearance, Raven was startled into crying loudly again. Fae shot him a glare before moving away further from the human spawn with the lungs of a banshee.

A dark haired man in billowing robes stumbled through the doorway and Fae watched as he visibly broke down at the sight of the woman. The man let out a heart-wrenching cry of anguish as he cradled Raven's mother in his arms.

Fae's heart tugged at her chest as she watched her mentor mourn for her mother. In her time, Severus Snape had been the one person who supported her. He and his godson, Draco, made sure that she had her life together. If it weren't for them, her life in the Slytherin House would've been miserable. Seeing such a strong man fall apart right in front of her broke her heart.

It seemed like eons had passed before the man recollected himself. The overgrown bat -which was exactly what he resembled with his dark robes- gently laid down the body and shakily stood up. Fae watched solemnly as he shot one last remorseful look at the corpse before billowing out the door frame.

Fae spared Raven a glance before observing where Severus had left, "Why did he leave you behind? This never happened… Where's Pa-"

A ear-splitting wail was her answer.

Fae skillfully ignored the racket and stared at the door speculatively, "Well, I'm sure _someone_ will come and fin-"

A loud roar of anguish assaulted her eardrums and she wasn't given a chance to prepare herself before a volatile wave of chaotic magic slammed into her form. With a loud yelp, Fae was sent rocketing through the link and back into her body, effectively knocking her out.

She had enough energy to curse her weak and still developing body one last time before unwillingly submitting into Morpheus' hold, manic silver eyes being the last thing she remembered.

Don't forget to review! I'd love to hear your input on this new chapter :)


	4. The Raven

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**Hello you beautiful people out there. Happy April Fools! I literally spent my entire day watching youtubers upload troll vids. What is life?**

 **CHAPTER 4**

"Little Fae, please... wake up for Mama?"

She woke up to the soft pleading voice of her mother and an irritating itch in the back of her mind.

"... Fae?"

Fae twitched at the hopeful, yet desperate tone of her mother's voice. What could have caused her to sound like that?

"Darling, can you hear me? Open your eyes."

Curious as to why her mother was acting like this, Fae reluctantly opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the glare from the lights on her ceiling. She immediately groaned as squinting wasn't enough and the light stabbed into her corneas, worsening a headache she never knew she had. Merlin, this is like having a hangover all over again. She haven't had one in over a century, ugh.

Fae reached up to cradle her aching head and was promptly pulled into a tight embrace. The redhead groaned again at the jarring movement and croaked out, "Mama?"

She was surprised when Verona started sobbing uncontrollably, "Oh Fae, you've been unconscious for _weeks_! When you didn't wake up on Samhain, I feared your soul had returned to the Beyond!"

Her hand twitched as the itch started to worsen and she couldn't do anything about it. What in the world was wrong with her? Her head was aching, her body was unbearably sore, and that _itching just wouldn't stop!_

Fae was startled out of her thoughts when Verona's arms tightened, effectively strangling her.

The woman sniffed tearfully, unaware of her daughter's predicament, "What's worse was that your core was somehow empty. _Empty_! And there was no clue as to _why_ it happened!"

"M-Mama." Fae wheezed out pathetically, "C-Ca… n't br… eathe…guh."

Verona immediately detached herself from the tiny girl within a blink of an eye and fretted over Fae as she remembered to force detestable potions down her throat. Fae rubbed her neck with a grimace. Magical depletion? That certainly explains the terrible itch that was currently terrorizing her entire body. That hadn't happened in a long while.

It seemed her body wasn't mature enough to handle the amount of magic she used. The astral projection itself was already taxing and she _had_ to go and make her form corporeal. Seriously, what was she thinking? It was incredibly idiotic of her, especially since she did it on the whim of a child (even if he _was_ her). If anything, Fae deserved this terrible ache for being so careless with her magic.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" The hesitant and worried tone of Verona's voice snapped Fae out of her self-scolding thoughts. Fae pasted on a convincing smile and slowly nodded as to not agitate her headache, "I'm alright."

"If you're sure." Verona smiled softly before tucking Fae back into her bed, "Rest my little fairy. You need to get better soon alright?"

"Ok...ay." Fae said, a yawn prolonging her answer. Verona ran her hand through Fae's hair soothingly as the young witch snuggled into her sheets. With a mumbled 'good night', Fae fell asleep, but not before hearing Verona's whispered words.

"My dear Fae, I knew you wouldn't be normal from the moment I gave birth to you and yet I still love you. It hurts whenever you smile at me behind that terrible mask, as if I'm a stranger. Please… why won't you let me in?"

Apparently, Verona had the unnecessary fear that since Fae's 'soul' came from the Beyond, Samhain would've cause her to return to it. Of course, if Death hadn't been the one to personally put Fae in the body, that fear would've come true.

It was unnatural for a soul to be resurrected from the afterlife without going through the reincarnation cycle. Had Death not been… well, _Death_ , the soul Verona would've used for her baby would've grown insane and killed her in the end. That was assuming she'd get pregnant with the dead Father in the first place. In all honesty, none of this would have been able to occur had Death not decided to meddle.

Verona must have known this when she prayed for Death's aid. It also made sense that she'd be ready for any quirks that came with her baby. Who wouldn't be expecting some side effects?

After the enlightening realization that Fae didn't have to act her current age, she immediately stopped her facade. Although... she did indulge in her childish tendencies very often for her mother. It would be unfair to deny her the experience of rearing a child after all.

Verona took delight in tutoring Fae in her craft, although she was strictly told to not use Necromancy unless it was necessary. Black magic _was_ Black magic after all; and the more one used it, the faster they would eventually succumb to insanity as their mortal soul was too fragile to effectively manipulate the Beyond. However, Fae was not a mortal soul, she was the Mistress of Death, so the restrictions were quite frankly a simple annoyance.

With Verona going over only the basics, Fae wasn't able to use much of her magic. As a result, the redhead was practically hyper everyday. After the Incident, Verona took care to have Fae within her sights every second of the day. Although slightly endearing, Verona's careful way of teaching prevented Fae from expending the excess magical energy without her notice.

Thus came her solution: if she couldn't do it in the day, she'd do it during the night. And so began her monthly visits to Raven in the dark of night via astral projection. The first year was completely boring. All she could do was explore the few houses of Privet Drive as Raven and his caretakers slept.

Who the caretakers were, she had not the slightest idea. Fae had come to the conclusion that this world and hers weren't quite as similar. After all, she had lived with her Dad in the Black family manor, not some muggle household with two people resembling animals.

The mother and the father slept in their king sized bed while their offspring slept next to them in a bassinet. Raven on the other hand, slumbered in a pile of sheets down on the floor. Although curious, Fae did nothing about the fact. This was Raven's world, not hers. The people she saw as family weren't here, replaced by people with the same faces. Whatever happened here was for her male counterpart to live with.

Unfortunately, that sentiment was slowly crumbling apart as Fae watched Raven grow within the Dursley household. The blasted muggles treated him like scum beneath their feet. By the second year of visits, she'd come to learn that Raven wouldn't die so easily. Although it seemed suppressed for some unknown reason, Raven's magic always emerged to aid him, essentially protecting him from the possibilities of death via negligence.

However, the boy didn't have _enough_ freed magic to fight off the effects of malnutrition. For a magical child, the early childhood was the most crucial part of their Life. It decrees how much potential the child would have and if the body would be able to accommodate said power. The fact that Raven's magic was working overtime while being suppressed most likely meant he would grow to be a powerful wizard. Only, the malnutrition could be detrimental to his development.

By the third and fourth year, Fae grew progressively bored, even more than she was before. With her magical core slowly growing as time went by, she was left with more unspent energy needing to be released. As a result, Fae began experimenting. What would happen if she transferred her extra magic to Raven, who needed it more than she did? How would her black tainted magic affect his own neutral grey? They were essentially the same person after all.

It took the better of six months before she figured out the mechanics of her experiment. Fae was required to be there in person to transfer her magic since using an astral projection at the same time would've knocked her into a coma for a week or two (That little discovery had Verona going into a panic attack.). It was also fortunate that Raven was Grey, for had he been Light, her magic could've poisoned him.

She learned that tidbit when she experimented on various things during the time after her first death. Fae had done it to an unassuming wizard that was unfortunate enough to cross her path at the time. It took only a few seconds to manage skin contact and send a tendril of her magic into his system. His Light magic immediately reacted violently to the intrusion and the man promptly fell to the ground in a seizure. He died a minute later, his body rotting at a fast pace.

Death was quick to pull Fae to the side after that fiasco. Death took the time to sit her down and explain the intricacies of their Black Magic. Necromancy was neither Light, Grey, or Dark magic. It was categorized in an entirely separate faction.

Pyromancers, Thaumaturges, Conjurers, Diviners, Theurgists, Necromancers, and Sorcerers. These were the seven Magicks a Gifted one could be born as. As time went on and the era of the Old Religion died out, so did the factions. Only Diviners and Sorcerers seemed to be produced as the modern era began, and even then, the Diviners were rare and few in numbers. Soon enough the Sorcerers, known for their magic of Balance, were the only faction to prosper.

Sorcerers had a hand in all factions, but their abilities were limited when using spells originating from another faction. Death mentioned the saying, "Jack of all trades, Master of none." Death then went on to explain the three categories in Balance Magic. Light wizards mainly used magic that mimicked Pyromancers, Thaumaturges, and Theurgists; the latter being the most obvious as Theurgists dealt with the magic of Life and Healing. Gray wizards were composed of the remaining magics of Conjurers and Diviners; in other word, the power of Imagination and Insight.

Most surprisingly, Necromancy wasn't considered Dark magic. Dark wizards consisted of users of all dangerous magic. The type of spells that could grievously injure or kill. Things like demonic summonings, Blood Magics, and sacrificial rituals were considered Dark magic. While Dark magic was shunned, Necromancy was outright banned.

No sane Sorcerer would dabble with the magic of Death and the Beyond. Verona explained that Sorcerers didn't have the magical core to shoulder the weight of the Beyond. Death would turn them to insanity should they attempt to do so, as it is not their right. Only those of Necromancer blood could manipulate the dead without severe consequences. Because of the irreparable backlash, Necromancy was considered the most vile act of magic.

It explained why the wizard died when in contact with Fae's magic. Light wizards used the magic of nature and its elements, of Life. When Fae merged her death tainted magic with his, the man's magic was corrupted and his magic core rejected it. A wizard cannot live without his magic and so he died.

Grey magic on the other hand, was adaptive so a magically strong being such as Raven would be able to handle the intrusion. Theoretically, he would be able to take in Fae's magic and convert it into his own as some sort of boost.

However, with his magic suppressed, Raven was not strong enough to handle her form of magic. So, for the sake of her curiosity, Fae removed any and all blocks on the child's person that had suddenly appeared during the time she hadn't seen him. This, of course, meant she actually had to meet the child in person.

Five year old Raven was much more docile than his one year old self. He did not protest at her unexplained advances. He followed her instructions, never questioning her presence, and made sure to stay out of her way. His little cupboard of a room was much too small for the ritual needed to rid him of the manually placed blocks, so Fae knocked the muggles unconscious. That was the only time Raven dared to raise his voice at her, defending his abusers.

She commended him for having a backbone before telling him to shut up and follow her instructions. Fae wanted to get things done quickly just in case Verona decided to randomly check on her in the middle of the night and panic when she inevitably realizes Fae wasn't there. It took nearly the entire night to rid the boy of his restrictions, leaving Fae magically drained and him sprawled out on the floor.

She had miscalculated the amount of magic needed for the ritual and barely had any left to return home. In light of her negligence to gauge her magic, Fae vented by raiding through the muggles' kitchen. Finding enough food to help her magic regenerate, Fae plopped onto the stiff couch next to Raven and ate her spoils.

As she ate, Fae eyed the anorexic looking child as he struggled to stand up. Sweat glistened on his forehead and his oily hair was plastered to his skin. Raven stared at her with exhausted (but strangely sparkling) emerald eyes and managed to wheeze out, "W-What did you _do_?"

"I removed any nuisances on your form." Fae answered after swallowing. Blinking at Raven's confused eyes, she sighed and reiterated, "I helped you get better."

Understanding dawned on his face and the redheaded witch watched in mild curiosity as a small smile stretched on his face, "Thank you."

"Don't misunderstand, I did it for myself. Don't thank me." Fae snipped before hauling the child onto the couch next to her. His attempts to stand was too pathetic to watch. Raven sighed in what sounded like relief and fear mixed into one, "I can't be on here."

"Well too bad." Fae hissed before stuffing a piece of ham in his mouth in hopes of shutting him up. The second she had enough magic, she was going to leave. She didn't come here to fraternize with the… victim? Clone? Experiment? Whatever. Fae was there to see how the magic Death taught her would affect a Grey wizard via external administration... Why was she doing this again? Ah, boredom. Curse her boredom.

"Umm…" Raven's voice broke Fae out of her thoughts. He had finished chewing and now stared at her warily. Shaking her head, Fae made a ham sandwich and handed it to the boy, "Eat."

He cradled the food as if it were fragile glass, "B-But Uncle Ver-"

Fae narrowed her eyes, "Are you disobeying me?"

"N-No!" Raven squeaked before hesitantly nibbling on the sandwich. Within minutes, only crumbs were left behind as Raven rubbed his stomach in discomfort, having been unaccustomed to eating so much within a small time period. Fae sniffed at his messiness and swiftly cleaned things up.

With all the uneaten food placed back where it once was, Fae soaked a towel with warm water before walking towards Raven. Said boy progressively shrunk into himself the closer she got. The witch growled in irritation, "Stand up straight."

The five year old immediately did so and she brought the damp towel to his face, careful to be gentle as she wiped away the crumbs. Fae ignored his squirming as she moved to clean his hands, nodding when she was satisfied with his partial cleanliness. Tossing the towel into the sink, Fae nodded towards the cupboard, "Go to bed."

She watched as Raven scurried into his cupboard, following him at a more leisurely pace. Fae stood at the opening and frowned when Raven curled up in his thin blanket and stared up at her, "What?"

"I… I c-can't sleep." Raven mumbled, a blush adorning his face. Fae frowned even more at the admittedly adorable sight, "Why not?"

"You will go away if I do, right?" Raven asked, his eyes wide and pleading. Fae sighed heavily at his imploring emerald eyes and grumpily settled down next to his bed. His stupidly expressive eyes shined in happiness and Fae narrowed her eyes at him, "I will sing a song my mother sings to me. When I finish, you will go to sleep. I will come back next month, understand?"

Although his eyes dimmed slightly, Raven nodded with a smile on his face. Fae took a slow deep breath and began to sing Verona's lullaby.

Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay

Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li lai-lay

Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby

Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay

And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow

Bless you with love for the road that you go

May you sail far to the far fields of fortune

With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet

And may you need never to banish misfortune

May you find kindness in all that you meet

May there always be angels to watch over you

To guide you each step of the way

To guard you and keep you safe from all harm

Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay

May you bring love and may you bring happiness

Be loved in return to the end of your days

Now fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you

I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay

May there always be angels to watch over you

To guide you each step of the way

To guard you and keep you safe from all harm

Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay

Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay

Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li lai-lay

Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li lai-lay

Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li lai-lay

Loo-li, lai-lay

As Fae sung the last verse, a soft snore overlapped her voice. She blinked and stared at Raven's slumbering form. The child was snuggling his lumpy pillow, his scratchy looking blanket tangled between his legs.

Fae checked her magic levels before nodding. She had just enough. With a wave of her hand, a tendril broke away from her core and reached out to Raven's blanket and pillow. With quite a bit of concentration, Fae manipulated the blanket into becoming thicker and softer while making the pillow fluffy and comfy. Once that was done, she waved a hand over the cupboard and all the dust, dirt stains, and cobwebs immediately vanished.

Fae regarded her work with satisfaction. It wouldn't do for her little test subject to die of hypothermia or some sickness before she could complete her experiment. Fae closed the cupboard door and stretched. With one last glance at the cupboard, her magic fluctuated and she apparated home.

 **The song is titled Sleepsong, created by Secret Garden if you're interested. The song piece is quite soothing to the ears in my personal opinion :)**


	5. The Kidna- Claiming

I'm so sorry! When I updated all my other stories, I thought I had done the same for this one. Obviously I didn't, so now I'm here to rectify that. Thanks for putting up with me guys. I love you all :)

CHAPTER 5

For some unexplainable reason, the green eyed man-child had taken a liking to her.

 _Fae_ of all people.

It was like he decided that he'd be her devoted stalker the moment she shoved that piece of ham into his mouth. Turns out you get a minion when you feed a starved human. Who knew?

But either way, she now had a human child thinking she was some sort of saint come to help him. Oh she don't mind the hero-worship, it could be advantageous to have a meatshield at some point. What she _didn't_ like was that the kid with spiders as his only friends somehow grew some sort of immunity to her malevolent attitude towards him.

If she glared, he smiled.

If she growled, he laughed.

If she threatened bodily harm, he held his arms wide open and _said that he trusted her_!

What even are Humans?

Gods, she couldn't even speak properly. What in the world was wrong with that child? Fae regretted any and all nice gestures she'd ever given him that night. It's been months since then and he still hadn't stopped looking at her like she was his godsent savior. Sure, freeing his magic most likely sent a euphoric sense of freedom into his system, but that didn't justify his weird attachment towards her being. Ugh, _humans_.

(Nevermind that she, herself, was born a human)

"... Fae?" Came his hesitant voice. She sniffed, "What?"

Raven shrunk into himself at her sharp tone and mumbled, "... How long does this take?"

Fae sent him a reprimanding glare, "What have I said about mumbling? Speak up."

The currently six year old boy winced before straightening his back and raising his emerald eyes to meet her blue ones, "How long does this take?"

"We've done this before, shouldn't you have kept count?" Fae glanced at their connected hands, her magic slowly streaming steadily into his system.

Raven blushed, "I don't know how to do that yet."

Fae sighed in exasperation before cutting off her magic and pulling her hand away. Raven shuffled away as much as he could in the cramped space of the cupboard, rubbing his hand slightly. Fae cocked her head to the side, "I suppose I shall give you brief lessons as I will be here for at least another year to finish this little experiment of mine."

Late last year, Fae was finally able to discern the result of mixing necromantic magic into a Sorcerer's magical core. At first there was little to no change, nothing to take note of. Then, after six months of continual magical transference, Raven's neutral aura began to darken considerably. Other than that, though, it didn't seem to affect him.

However, by the length of one year, it seemed that his magic was unable to continuously balance out the never-ending volatile magic. His core had started to destabilize and soon enough, faltered against the wave of intrusive magic.

Fae was lucky enough to be there on time to witness the magic Death taught her surge and seemingly started to attack Raven's own magic. It took a minute of careful observation as Raven writhed on the ground for her to later realized that that wasn't _exactly_ the case. Yes, the foreign magic was indeed attacking the magic within Raven, but it wasn't _his_ magic.

The black magic attacked a certain separate soul piggybacking Raven's core, the piece being completely saturated in Dark magic. Well to be more specific, her given magic inside Raven started to converge and manifest into Death's incorporeal form; and promptly started to murder the broken soul residing within Raven's scar.

Fae wasn't surprised to see a version of Death separate from her own being appear. After all, it _was_ Death's magic she was using in her human body. What surprised her was that the pseudo-Death decided to rid Raven of his unknown menace, something her magic wouldn't do normally. Perhaps Raven was able to subconsciously control Death's magic into protecting him as the future Master of Death? Either way, after that interesting scene, Raven's magical core was completely purged of the necromantic magic.

Instead of stopping her little experiment as any sane person would, Fae decided to continue on. Only this time, she would transfer a more manageable amount if magic to see how Raven would deal with it. Unfortunately, this test would take far longer than the first. Especially due to the fact that her inadequate eight year old body was too weak to continuously feed magic to Raven without repercussions.

And so another year passed by.

Raven consciously discovered his magic and Fae had taken on the task of explaining things to him. She had no problems in telling him how his mother died and how the woman (and his father) was the reason he had magic. Of course, when his emerald eyes started shining in unshed tears, Fae resorted to coddling and singing to stop the inevitable waterfall. She learned to never mention his parents since then.

On another note, Verona grew comfortable enough to let slips of her hidden sadism peek through her kind persona. The woman had suppressed her urges from even before Fae was born, but it seemed she couldn't take the strain much longer (and it was starting to get very obvious). At first, it was just when she prepared the fresh meat for supper. Her smile was just a tad bit sharper as she cleaved through the screeching chicken's neck.

But then all her reservations were thrown out the window when one day, their home was invaded by some runaway criminals. Or at least, they tried to. Their wards were far too superior for some lowly wizards to get through. Either way, Verona wasn't one to miss a chance and took her time to drag the men into the dungeons Fae never realized they had. She could hear their delicious screams echoing for days afterwards-

On to other news... Fae could finally summon a dead deer, a large step of improvement compared to the squirrels and small rodents. Controlling Death's magic was much more difficult when she had the volatility of a kid. With it being so unfamiliar with her new body, Fae found it taxing to gather the appropriate magic needed to do what needed to be done. Such setbacks wouldn't stop her for long, though, and she was steadily completing her studies at an exponential rate.

As Fae's control over her magic grew, so did her magical core. That meant she needed to find more outlets to expend all her pent up energy. This, of course, lead to the exposure of her existence as she sought to make her astral form corporeal, a very magically intensive procedure.

Raven's caretakers finally noticed her presence and Fae took great pleasure in embedding fear into their tiny, pathetic hearts. Thought they could rudely kick her out of their house, did they? Well… let's just say the muggles have learned their lesson and have made an effort to ignore her existence. Indefinitely.

And Raven somehow gained Fae as an ever-present protector.

Or rather, her magic that was coursing through his veins behaved just like Death's had. It turned out Raven subconsciously manipulated her magic into a defense mechanism that would manifest at the first sign of extreme danger. In the meantime, it lay dormant in his body, buffered by his neutral magic. The compatibility was understandable as they were essentially the same being, just with differing magical affinities.

Thus came the end to her experiment at age nine when Fae was sure nothing would happen until Raven had a near-death experience.

With no need to give her magic to Raven any longer, Fae made a habit of summoning corpses of small critters to stop the incessant need to expel her large reserves of magic. Before boredom could settle in once again, Verona swept her into endless lessons on pureblood etiquette and politics. It wasn't long before Fae carried the lessons on to Raven during their tutoring sessions that somehow became daily in her visits. The boy would need it anyways.

The day Fae would be sent off to Hogwarts was fast approaching and she had only a year and a half of freedom left. Verona knew this and spent every moment she could taking them out on memorable adventures around Europe. Of course, she was from America and so her knowledge of Europe was limited, but it didn't stop the two from exploring the areas like pathfinders on a mission.

It was during one of these ventures that Verona learned of Raven. In a moment of pity, Fae had requested for Raven to join them and somehow managed to make Verona think Fae shared some kind of magic bond with the boy. (" _How long have you known Fae?" "Umm. Ever since I can remember, really. We always share magic when she comes." "... Excuse me?"_ ) Fae didn't question Verona's theory as it wasn't worth the effort, but Raven was there when she made the comment and now believed in it too. It was a truly unfortunate outcome, but Fae took advantage of it.

This so-called connection allowed her to have more freedom when it came to explorations outside of the manor's wards. Fae no longer had to come in the dark of night like some creep waiting for Raven to wake up. She could turn up at any time of the day, provided she informed Verona beforehand. Of course, she thought it was some form of natural telepathy instead of astral projection, but Fae felt no need to correct her.

Verona went as far as to invite Raven over for sleepovers.

After a long and arduous mental debate, Fae agreed to the sleepover. It would allow Verona to educate the both of them at the same time instead of Fae relaying it to Raven at a later date. Her belief was that if Raven grew to be more aware before being integrated into the Wizarding world, the timeline would be at least be a bit more similar to her own. It was unlikely, but it was worth a try.

And so, with a few mind manipulating spells here and there, Raven was free to come while his guardians were none the wiser. Of course with her luck, one sleepover turned to three, then five, and suddenly, it seemed to be endless. It went from a few days to a few weeks which turned to a few months on end.

The boy practically lived with the Nightshade women by the second year of continuous sleepovers. He even had his own room, complete with an updated wardrobe and every present Verona showered upon Raven during the two very long years. He even had his own house elf, though he had yet to realize he had a personal attendant. Verona had really taken to Raven.

It was no surprise when Verona spontaneously decided to kidnap Raven from his abusive guardians, though said boy had no idea it was a kidnapping. She removed any and all traces that there ever was a boy named Harry Potter.

It took awhile as she had to set up a massive chain of spells surrounding the whole of Privet Drive. Verona wanted to tie all loose ends and that meant setting off an intricate spell that would enact a large scale Obliviate on anyone that even heard the mention of Raven's name or saw his face at a passing glance. Fae aided her by engraving runes on every house to make sure the spell wouldn't break unless acted on by a stronger force.

It wasn't hard to make the decision to help Verona claim her male self.

Although Fae tried her best, she was unable to aspire as a convincing and genuine child. Verona wanted to take care of a fragile innocent being, to coddle and protect them like all mothers did. Raven would fill in the gap in her place. Besides, Fae would be gone soon enough, off to school and away from home. It was beneficial for Raven to keep Verona company while she was off in Hogwarts. So with a smile, Fae stepped aside and let her mother take Raven in the most unconventional way.

A week later, Harian Raven Nightshade was blood adopted into the family tree.


	6. The Social Call

Hey guys! Sorry for the extremely long wait. Truth is, the majority of my stories are largely experiments or outlets for my random plot bunnies. More often than not, I just leave my stories be once I've gotten it out of my system. This was the case for this one- HOWEVER, I'm not gonna lie. I really enjoyed writing this story. I've actually got ten more chapters already written out a long time ago, I just never published them (sorry sorry don't hurt me). It would've continued to go unpublished had I not recently received a lovely review about a work I previously thought had died.

Shout out to Azaira! Your review really made my day and ultimately motivated me to actually put the chapter up. Thank you for being awesome!

CHAPTER 6

Harian looked sick, standing between the two clashing auras that circled around but never went on the offensive. The atmosphere was suffocating and the magic was swirling around chaotically with no clear intention. He shuffled back as if to avoid the backlash that would certainly happen if a fight were to ensue.

"I beg your pardon?" Fae blinked with a frown. Verona rolled her eyes at her reaction, "Honestly, Fae. It's only a play date, no need to act so severe."

Fae bit her lip to hold back a sarcastic retort, this _was_ a severe situation. Fae took a breath and asked as calmly as she was able to, "What brought this on, Mother?"

"You're already ten and you haven't met another proper girl your age, not once!" Verona argued, "I was always fine with you declining the requests when you were younger, but no longer. You _will_ attend this tea party!"

Fae gave an affronted look, "I refuse to sit with the company of snivelling children for hours on end."

"They're your age!" Verona said in exasperation. The redhead sniffed disdainfully, "Regardless of their age, the girls there are spoiled brats. I hardly think I will get any intelligent conversations out of them."

Verona stared at me incredulously, "They're British purebloods, Fae. They're practically trained to be intelligent from birth."

"Unfortunately, their form of intelligence isn't up to par." Fae drawled. Verona let out a strangled sound before sighing. She straightened to her full height and stared down imposingly at her daughter, "You'll be attending, no negotiations."

Fae let an aggrieved sigh before glancing towards Harian who was standing behind the loveseat next to the door with a flighty disposition, "Will Raven go with me at least?"

Said boy froze at the mention of his name and offered a nervous smile.

"No." Verona answered firmly, "He still has lessons to attend to."

Fae scowled at Verona's unyielding form before unwillingly submitting. With a stiff curtsey, she retreated up the stairs to her room. The soft patter of shoes alerted her to Harian's presence.

Fae opened the door to her room and glided in, leaving it open for Harian to enter. He did so quietly and silently perched himself on the side of her duvet. Fae settled herself on a cushioned armchair next to his position. She let out a heavy sigh before turning towards Harian who was fiddling with the buttons on his cuffs.

Fae absentmindedly reached over to smack his hands away, it wouldn't do for it to develop into a habit. He gave a sheepish grin before placing his hands on his lap. She stared expectantly at him as he started to fidget not a second later.

After a minute, Harian took in a fortifying breath and spoke, "It can't be that bad."

Fae frowned but held back her retort and instead asked challengingly, "... and why is that?"

As if a switch had been flipped, Harian's posture straightened and a glint entered his eyes, "Mum said that British purebloods are raised with archaic traditions, keeping them uninformed and at a disadvantage to some aspects of social culture. It would make things much easier to maneuver them under your thumb with little to no complications. If you were to attend..."

Fae shrugged as Harian trailed off in thought, "They're not worth my effort. I plan on making them learn their place with an alternative method. Besides, what have I told you?"

Harian sighed and boredly droned, "The Nightshade family holds no power in the pureblood circles outside of America. I will be the one to deal with the people on the political front as well as the media. My reputation is crucial a the last Potter, I am to lead the neutrals in the foreseeable future…. Am I missing anything?"

"Don't use sarcasm with me, Raven, or you'll be finding a special present late at night." She answered, "I'm not to be noticed and becoming an acquaintance of the Crowley heiress will do the exact opposite. You are aware of their distinct bloodthirsty, Dark nature, yes?"

Harian promptly reverted from the pureblood persona Verona constantly hammered into him and nodded with a faint grimace. His emerald eyes shone with understanding, "Both the Light and the Dark keep a close eye on that family. They are both powerful assets and dangerous enemies. The Nightshade name is already infamous in pureblood circles, there's no need to paint bigger targets on our backs."

Fae nodded in agreement, absentmindedly wondering why she was being so talkative. She propped her legs over the arm of the chair and leaned back, ignoring the fact that it was improper of her, "If we accept the Crowleys, what's stopping the other purebloods from approaching us? Nothing. There's no doubt that followers of the Dark Lord will attempt to sway us to their side. Followers of the Light Lord will do the same. Choosing one side puts the other faction against us, our best bet is to remain neutral. Grey."

Realization dawned on Harian, "If you attend the tea party and manage to gain the Crowley heiress' allegiance, the wizarding world will see that as a declaration of our alignment. Since the Crowleys are a purely Dark family, the Light will label us as potential enemies since they know nothing about us."

Fae silently nodded before moving to stand up from her position, sparing him a glance. Harian immediately rose and walked to her door, noticing her nonverbal cue. He awkwardly bowed, still unused to the action, and left.

With a tired sigh, Fae used her magic to gather all her blankets, pillows, and other cushions to create her customary nest on her oriental rug. Once everything was settled, she unceremoniously dropped onto the pile with a longer, louder sigh.

She would need a nice long nap if she were to properly deal with the young girls in a few scant hours.

"I think it went rather well." Verona said cheerfully the moment they exited the Floo and into the reception room. Fae, on the other hand, adopted a neutral look and slowly patted away the ashes on her clothing, "The social gathering was… enlightening."

The pureblood girls were even more vain and bigoted than she had previously estimated. They were also very, _very_ intimidated by her presence. Of course, that tends to happen when one summons a legion of undead critters to chase after rude little girls. Not that her mother was aware of _that_ little tidbit.

Fae never did get on well with the females in her previous life. It had something to do with the fact that she drew in all the guys because of her fame and the girls were jealous. She wasn't above taunting the juvenile teenagers either, so any connection she shared with the female population was shot out the window before first year was over.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself. Did you make any friends?" Verona asked jovially as she lead them to the family room. Fae offered a stiff smile and settled onto a dragonhide armchair, "I unfortunately was unable to gain any acquaintances during the gathering. I trust you fared better than I?"

Of course she did, Verona was a social butterfly.

"We're at home, little fairy." Verona smiled softly as she made herself comfortable on the loveseat, "There's no need to sound so formal with me. As for your question, I was able to establish some contacts. It is nothing compared to my connections in America, but it's a start."

Holly popped in and started to lay out the tea set, informing them that Harian had been put to sleep before leaving. Fae picked up her prepared cup of tea and took a slow sip, "That's good."

Verona chuckled, "Don't think I didn't notice the diversion. This attempt was far less subtle compared to your other works. Why didn't you make any friends?"

Fae swallowed her drink and placed her cup onto the tray. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "What did you expect, Mother? I'm not like those girls and I never will be."

Verona sighed, "I know, but I had to try. I don't want you to be lonely, that's all."

Fae inwardly grimaced at the mushiness of it all, but moved to sit next to her mother anyways. She wrapped her arm around Verona's waist and laid her head on her shoulder, "I have you… and Raven. I'm not lonely."

Verona smiled lovingly and hugged her tightly, "We'll always have each other, hm?"

Fae stared at the tendrils of steam wafting over the cup of tea, "... Yes we will."


End file.
